Time
by Myra the Sark
Summary: When a Wild Core sends the team 22 years into the past, they find out a few things that sends their world into a spin. Will be rewritten by hand...eventually.
1. Chapter 1

**My first true Monsuno story! I came up with this while on a hike Wednesday. ~Myra  
**

* * *

Chase didn't understand what had happened. They had been traveling, Bren had tripped over something, a green light had flashed in front of all of them, and then, he had the strangest sensation. He wasn't really aware of himself, or any of his senses, just a light, floating feeling…

And then the ground. Grass-softened, but still uncomfortable. There was no thud or landing, it just came into existence beneath him.

He didn't open his eyes. Sight just seemed to happen. As soon as it had registered in his mind that it was over, he sat up and looked around wildly, scanning his surroundings. Quite safe, far as he could tell. He was in a small patch of grass, part of a strip between a wide concrete road and a tall concrete wall. The wall seemed familiar. Very familiar, yet somehow...not.

He knew Bren had tripped over a hidden Wild Core. No doubt about it. But what it had done…he didn't know. "Guys?" he asked. Four groans met him, and they sat up as well.

"What the crag just happened?" Dax asked, rubbing his forehead.

"I think B tripped over a Wild Core," Chase said.

At this, Jinja rounded on the technician of the group. "Bren, how could you?"

"I-I didn't see it!" he defended.

"Settle down, Jin," Chase said. "We need to figure out where we are exactly, but it kinda looks like…like…." He trailed off as he realized.

"Like home," Jinja finished, awestruck.

There was silence for a minute. "So you three come from Melian City?" Dax asked.

"Yeah," Bren said in a voice that was barely more than a breath. "It's been months since we've been here."

Chase looked around, his eyes narrow. _I know this place._ He began to walk a little, keeping one hand on the wall, following it until the stone turned to metal under his hand. He looked over at it, curious, and his eyes widened. It was Melian City's public high school, and though it still had a beaten look to it, it looked as if several years had been chopped off the wear-and-tear. Sure, it looked whole like the school he, Bren, and Jinja had gone to for one year only. Though the grounds were the same, there were trees where no trees should have been, missing benches, and vice versa on both counts.

The others followed in, and his closer friends halted themselves. "This is getting really weird," Jinja stated, staring.

Suddenly a bell rang. The grounds, at first deserted, flooded with students instantly, all running, crashing into each other, and jostling around to get with their friends before the class bell. There was only one problem with the scene—neither Chase, Bren, or Jinja recognized any of the faces.

Meanwhile, they heard Dax make a choked sound. "Dax, what's wrong?" Chase asked.

The dark-skinned Lowlander didn't say anything. Instead, he turned the newspaper he had been studying toward them.

It read _Monday, May 1, 1990_.


	2. Chapter 2

It took Chase five whole seconds to realize he wasn't breathing. He choked on a gasp, and crouched down on the grass.

"But that is…impossible," Beyal said, obviously struggling to comprehend. Impossible…yet it was happening. The weight of it hit Core-Tech all at once. They'd been sent twenty-two years into the past. Before any of them had been born.

Something else was then realized by Chase. Twenty-two years—his dad had been fifteen then. And he had lived his whole life in this town, which meant…he should be somewhere in that campus.

Then there was a loud creak, and a shadow loomed behind him. They all turned and froze.

Someone from inside the campus had opened the gate, stepped out, looked around, and noticed them standing there. Obviously it was the gym teacher of the time, from the way he was dressed. "Hey! What are you kids doing out here? Shouldn't you be at school or something?"

"Uh…" Chase knew he had to think fast, otherwise he'd land them in a lot of trouble. "Yeah, um, we're shadow students. We were going to come in, but the gate was closed…"

Shadow students—prospective students who came for a day to "test-drive" a school, see if it fit their expectations or needs. They didn't happen very often, but they did happen once in a while.

The teacher glared at them for a few moments, and then said, "Oh, really, well then…sorry about that. What're your names?"

"Chase Suno." He had no time to think of a pseudonym.

"And…?"

Jinja, Bren, and Dax all followed out in introducing themselves, and Chase had to quickly invent a surname for Beyal—who, to his knowledge, didn't have one.

"Mm hmm, well then, get yourselves on campus, and don't let me catch you wandering back out here, or you may not find yourselves wandering back in! You get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, we get it," Jinja said, and they all hurriedly entered, though she had to half-drag Beyal.

* * *

At least now, in terms of terrain, three of them knew where they were going. They stopped in the middle of a clearing.

"So, now what?" Dax asked.

"Hang on a minute," Bren said, taking out the Core-Tablet. It took a while—first having to connect into the school's system, which at this time was a lot older than what any of them were used to. But, after that was taken care of, it was simple for him to hack in, create a fake ID for himself and the others, and set up fake lists of classes and homerooms. Of course he set it so that Beyal would always have at least himself or Jinja in the room to help out, seeing as his social skills still needed work. It was seven-fifty-five, five minutes to first class. First period Jinja was with Beyal, so she'd have to lead him there. And boy was it a good thing she, Bren, and Chase knew the school by heart. And he was sure that Dax would find his way around.

And so the day began. Bren put the Core-Tablet away, and they all split up and started toward their own classes. But as Bren charged headfirst into the crowd, and charged headfirst into someone.

He fell back onto the ground, right onto his bag. "Oh, uh, sorry, sorry!" He jumped up, waving his hands around, as if that would make it any better. "I wasn't looking, and I-"

"Hey, calm down, it's no big deal." The kid he had bumped into wasn't hurt at all, just a little surprised. Except…he looked familiar. _Scarily_ familiar.

It was a boy around his and Chase's age, with scruffy black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a light blue t-shirt over jean cutoffs, which stopped just below his knees. He had a calm look about him, and looked friendly. "Stuff happens, y'know?"

"Y-yeah…" Bren nodded a few times, scratching the back of his head. "Stuff does happen."

"Yep. Hey, wait a minute…" He looked puzzled. "I've never seen you around here before. Are you new? It's really late in the year for new students, but—"

"Uh, no, I'm a shadow student," Bren hurriedly put in. "I'm sorry I ran into you. I just wanted to know where the English class was…they said I should go there."

The boy laughed. "Okay, now it all makes sense! It's over that way." He gestured toward a building that Bren had never been inside. "But you don't have to be there yet, the bell hasn't rung. Neither do I—that's my first class, too. Guess you ended up tagging along my homeroom, eh?"

"I guess so."

His smile never left his face. "So, uh, what's your name?"

"Bren."

"Nice. My name's Jeredy. Jeredy Suno."


	3. Chapter 3

**Jinja's POV**

The first three classes of the morning were, more or less, normal. Jinja found that her fourth class was, whether by accident or purpose, was all of them together.

None of the teachers were familiar to her. Their temperaments ranged from slightly friendly to somewhat boring to downright nasty, and none of them seemed to pay much attention to them beyond general recognition.

The second class, in which she shared with Bren, he said that he found a fifteen-year-old version of Chase's father. She was still reeling from that.

Her third class was science. And of course, she came the day after they chose partners for an experiment. The teacher said that she'd split up the group of three so that she'd have a partner, but the girl she was with hadn't shown up yet. In fact, Jinja had already made a friend—a girl named Emily Donnell. She knew that after they figured out how to get to their own time, she'd never see Emily again, but it was still nice talking to someone.  
"So where're you from?"

"Um…" Jinja knew she'd have to say something else, otherwise it'd be suspicious. "Coastal City." First city she thought of.

"Lucky! I want to live there someday."

"So…" Jinja started then. "Who did I get randomly paired with?"

"The German girl. She moved in a few days ago. Not to mention her last name's practically impossible to pronounce."

"What's her name?"

"Uh, I forget."

At that moment, the class's telephone rang, and she heard the teacher say, "So she's just late? Alright then."

Emily blinked, and said, "Looks like your partner's not coming to class today—it's almost over anyway. I'll ask the teacher if I can help you out tomorrow."

* * *

**Chase's POV**_  
_

Chase was still stunned from the fact that he had been correct—that his father was indeed in school at this time. Time seemed to be going far too slowly that morning. Even after what seemed to be about seven eternities, it was only lunchtime. Everyone was running from their fourth period to the ugly little box that was the cafeteria, right past himself, Bren, and Jeredy—whom Bren had "introduced" him to. They were positioned in the middle of the campus square, trying not to get knocked over.

Jeredy looked around the nearby area, grimaced, and then turned to Chase and Bren. "Hey, it's lunchtime. The food sucks, but at least they don't tell you how to eat it. Or if you have to eat it." He laughed. "You can sit at my table. There aren't many other people there…well, actually, it'll just be you, me, and one of my other friends. I dunno where my other friend is, though. But that's alright, right?"

"Yeah, sure." Chase still felt awkward talking to the teenage version of his father. The cafeteria was no different on the inside then it ever was or would be—tables, serving line, food, everything a cafeteria should have. The three got in line, received their food—it was apparently some sort of 'casserole', served with spaghetti and a small carton of milk—and then moved to the side to let everyone with a clear destination go past.

"Oh, there's the friend I was telling you guys about. Come on!" They followed him up to a table occupied by one boy with black hair and eyes of a color neither of them could identify.

But they both knew already that this was Emmanuel Klipse—before he went delusional and when he and Jeredy were friends.

"Who are they?" was the first thing Emmanuel said when they got to the table.

"Oh, some new kids. This is Bren, and this is Chase." Both Core-Tech members put on smiles, but they couldn't help but be tense.

"And where's…?"

"No idea. I'll go ask Emily."

He sauntered off to another table, where Chase saw him talk briefly with a brown-haired girl who also looked familiar…but he couldn't really place it. The girl also happened to be sitting with Jinja and Beyal. Jeredy came back, and said, "Her science teacher got a call saying she'd be late 'cause of a doctor's appointment."

"Figures."

Emmanuel then seemed to realize something, and said, "Hey Jer, Chase, you aren't cousins or anything, are you?"

"Nah," Jeredy said. "It's just a weird coincidence. You aren't forgetting about Greta and Caroline, are you?"

"Oh, right."

It was quiet for a bit, with Jeredy often looking around the room, as if searching for someone. And at one point, he did a double take. His eyes lit up, and his face brightened instantly. "There she is!" He waved, and both Chase and Bren snapped to attention, following the kid's gaze. At the other end of the room, there was a blond girl looking around, obviously looking for her two friends. She saw then, and started over. She also looked…familiar.

"Sorry—doctor's appointment.

"Yeah, heard from Emily."

Chase froze. _I know that voice._ The girl then looked over him and Bren, looking them up and down. She looked at Jeredy and Emmanuel, and asked, "Who are zhey?"

* * *

**Any guesses on who she is? ~Myra**


	4. Chapter 4

Bren just couldn't compute what he was seeing. Chase's dad, Klipse, and the future Commandant-Marshal of STORM, all in one place and not at each other's throats. Heck, they were _friends_ by the look of it!

"Excuse us one moment," Chase said in a choked voice, and he dragged Bren toward the row of windows at one end of the café. He made the universal "wait there" motion and ran off to grab both Jinja and Beyal, and then got Dax from where he was sitting by himself. "Do you see that?" Bren asked in a low tone.

The other three stared, and Dax actually smacked himself. "Is that really soldier-lady?" he asked.

"Uh-huh."  
"Crag."

"Huh?" They turned to look at him, but he was expressionless. _It's probably nothing._

"And…there's Klipse," Jinja said. Chase nodded slowly. She put a hand on her face. "This is gonna take a while to process…"

"Ditto, Jin. Ditto."

* * *

Jinja quickly realized one thing…three things, actually. The 15-year-old version of Charlemagne acted _nothing_ like the one they knew. First, she tended to get carried away in conversations—reason why she knew all this. Second, too much caffeine got her hyper—which Jinja couldn't help but snicker silently at. Third…well, she was actually friendly. And she, Klipse, and Jeredy all had the same birthday—a weird fact.

Apparently when she had first come to Melian, she was pretty much ostracized, until Jeredy decided to talk to her.

"So, I'm working with you on the science project?" she asked.

"Uh-huh," Jinja confirmed, feeling weird.

Charlemagne seemed to notice something, and Jinja saw her scowl a bit. _Huh?_ She turned, and saw Jeredy talking to Emily about something. He said something, and she nodded earnestly. "One second," the blond girl said, striding toward them.

_Okay…that's weird,_ Jinja thought, watching. Emily looked put-off and a little angry, Jeredy looked flat-out confused, while Charlemagne had put on an obviously-fake smile while saying something. Suddenly it hit Jinja like a chunk of cement. _Oh, _God_! She likes him!_

* * *

The school day was over faster then they expected it would be. As soon as it was, it forced Chase to call an emergency meeting. "Okay, we need a new plan," he said. "B, I need you to find some possible way for us to get back to _when_ we're supposed to be."

Bren nodded. "Actually Chase, I think the fastest way would be to find another Wild Core…if we can find one."

"And what are the odds of _that_?" Jinja muttered.

"Then we'll just have to look around, Princess," Dax said.

"Don't call me that!"

All of a sudden the five of them felt like they were being watched. Chase turned around—to see the younger version of his father standing there. Hovering close were his two friends-later-turned-enemies. "What's that thing?" he asked, pointing. "And…what the crag were you guys talking about?"

"Uh…it's—personal stuff," Chase said tightly.

All of Core-Tech remained silent, as did the other three.

"Sounds fishy," they heard Charlemagne mutter.

"I don't believe it," Emmanuel said out loud—and was promptly hit over the head by the blond girl. "What was that for?!"

"Don't you have any sense of tact?"

"Oh no," Jeredy muttered. "Not again." He quickly put himself between them. "We'll settle it later." He turned to Chase again. "Really, what are those things?"

Chase bit his lip. _Come on come on, let _something_ happen…_

And something indeed happened. A very loud car horn sounded, and Charlemagne went stiff. "Uh, we have to go. _Remember_?"

"Right…" Jeredy mumbled at the same time as Emmanuel. To Chase, Jeredy added, "I still want to know what that is, by the way."

Once the three were out of earshot, Jinja said, "Well this can't get any worse."

Bren nodded. "Yeah! We're gonna have to make ourselves scarce, otherwise we might mess up the whole timeline!"

"B, I think we've screwed with it a bit already. We're not supposed to exist right now."


End file.
